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Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases
U.S. Department of Agriculture
  1. Home
  2. Silybum marianum

Silybum marianum (Asteraceae)

Common Names
Milk Thistle; Lady's Thistle
How this plant is used
Generally Recognized as Safe
View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
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List of plant chemicals.
Click on column headings to sort table by that column. *Unless otherwise noted all references are to (Duke, 1992)
Chemical Name Activity Count Plant Part Low Parts Per Million High Parts Per Million Standard Deviation Reference
(+)-TAXIFOLIN 0 Fruit *
(-)-SILANDRIN 0 Fruit *
1-2-EPOXY-TRIDEC-3-ENE-5-7-9-11-TETRAYNE 0 Root 0.2 *
2,3-DEHYDROSILYCHRISTIN 0 Plant J.S. Glasby Dict.Pls Containing 2ndary Metabolite. 1991.
2,3-DEHYDROSILYCHRISTIN 0 Seed *
2,3-DEHYDROSILYMARIN 0 Plant J.S. Glasby Dict.Pls Containing 2ndary Metabolite. 1991.
2,3-DEHYDROSILYMARIN 0 Seed *
3-DEOXYSILYCHRISTIN 1 Fruit *
3-DEOXYSILYCHRISTIN 1 Plant *
3-DEOXYSILYCHRISTIN 1 Seed *
3-DEOXYSILYDIANIN 0 Seed Leung, A. Y. and Foster, S. 1995. Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients 2nd Ed. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 649 pp.
4'-5-7-TRIHYDROXY-3'-5'-DIMETHOXY-FLAVANONE 0 Fruit *
4'-5-7-TRIHYDROXY-3'-5'-DIMETHOXY-FLAVANONE 0 Seed *
5,7-DIHYDROXYCHROMONE 4 Plant Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
ALUMINUM 5 Leaf 59.0 267.0 -0.49 *
ALUMINUM 5 Plant 267.0 -0.23 Pedersen, M. 1987. Nutritional Herbology. Pederson Publishing. Bountiful, Utah. 377 pp.
APIGENIN 101 Fruit *
APIGENIN 101 Seed *
APIGENIN-7-O-BETA-D-(2''-O-ALPHA-L-RHAMNOSYL)-GALACTURONIDE 0 Flower *
APIGENIN-7-O-BETA-D-GLUCURONIDE-6''-ETHYL-ESTER 0 Flower *
View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
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List of plant activities.
Click on column headings to sort table by that column. *Unless otherwise noted all references are to (Duke, 1992)
Activity Chemical Count Reference
Tachycardic 1 Martindale's 29th
Taenicide 1 Martindale's 28th
Teratogenic 1 *
Teratologic 2 *
Testosteronigenic 1 Werbach, M. 1993. Healing with Food. Harper Collins, New York, 443 pp.
Thymoprotective 1 Pizzorno, J.E. and Murray, M.T. 1985. A Textbook of Natural Medicine. John Bastyr College Publications, Seattle, Washington (Looseleaf).
TNF-alpha-Inhibitor 5 *
Topoisomerase-I-Inhibitor 5 Santti, R., Makela, S., Strauss, L., Korman, J., Kostian, M. L. 1998. Phytoestrogens: Potential Endocrine Disruptors in Males. Toxicol Ind Health, 14: 223-237.
Topoisomerase-II-Inhibitor 3 Constantinou, A., Mehta, R., Runyan, C., Rao, K., Vaughan, A., Moon, R. 1995. Flavonoids as DNA Topoisomerase Antagonists and Poisons: Structure-Activity Relationships. J Natural Products, 58: 217-225.
Tranquilizer 3 Werbach, M. 1993. Healing with Food. Harper Collins, New York, 443 pp.
Trichomonicide 1 Martindale's 29th
Tumorigenic 1 Jim Duke's personal files.
Tyrosinase-Inhibitor 2 *
Tyrosine-Kinase-Inhibitor 1 Economic & Medicinal Plant Research, 6: 170.
Ubiquiot 2 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Ulcerogenic 2 *
Uricosuric 2 Davies, S., and Stewart, A. 1990. Nutritional Medicine. Avon Books, New York. 509pp.
Urinary-Acidulant 1 Martindale's 29th
Uterorelaxant 1 Werbach, M. 1993. Healing with Food. Harper Collins, New York, 443 pp.
Uterotrophic 3 Journal of Medicinal Food 2: 227.1999.